The little cemetery situated near
the banks of the placid stream know asSpring Creek near Harper in western Gillespie County is
an important link inthe history of the
Texas Frontier. A number of graves are unmarked, andsome are known only to God.

Perhaps the beginning of this burial spot was
the result of a tragic incidentduring
the War Between the States. In 1862, Colonel James Duff's Confede-rate Regiment overtook and hanged four
men who would not disavow theirallegiance to the United
States. The victims were Sebird Henderson, HiramNelson, Gus Tegener, and Frank Scott. They
met a brutel death by beatingand hanging.
The bodies were tossed into nearby Spring Creek, and
theirwomenfold and children buried the victims here.
A grim reminder of the inci-dent is a granite monument
erected at the mass grave.

At least five persons slain by Indians
during Depredations across the hillcountry are interred in this hallowed
spot. Those martyrs of the frontierincluded Eli McDonald, Gillet "Gilead"
McDonald Taylor, ElizabethFrazier
Joy, Atwilda Joy McDonald, and Peter
Hazelwood.

FRONTIER TIMES,
June 1927, Volume 4, Number 9, chronicled recol-lections of Monroe McDonald on
page 4, and we quote in part: "Gettingtogeather what help we could,
my father and I had the bodies (ElizabethFrazier Joy and Alwilda Joy
McDonald) taken down to Spring Creek andburied. There is a little graveyard
there, and in it we laid them to rest."

FRONTIER TIMES,
May 1927, Volume 4, Number 8: In his story, "TheTragedy of the Pedernales", Leonard
Passmore related on page 6: "Mr. Mc-Donald (Monroe) took the corpses
(Eli McDonald and Gillet Taylor) downto Spring Creek and buried them in a little
vale on the west bank of the stream--a plot afterwards set apart as a public cemetery."In continuing his article, Mr.
Passmore told on page 7: "The last time I sawthis frontier mother (Hannah Axley
Taylor, wife of Matthew Taylor) wasdown on Spring Creek in the autumn
of 1891....she died a few years after-wards on Little Devil's
River and was buried in the cemetery
at SpringCreek."

FRONTIER TIMES, "Memories
of Lafe McDonald" gave this bit of insight:"Hut Taylor (William Hudson Taylor),
hearing the wagon....went with theothers and loaded the corpse (Peter Hazelwood)
on the wagon, and he wastaken down to the Spring Creek and buried". Hazelwood
had been slain byIndians in a confrontation in October, 1873. Thus
Caroline Taylor McDon-Hazelwood lost two husbands (Eli McDonald and Peter
Hazelwood) to thetaming of the Texas Frontier. Caroline and
her children were held captiveeight months (1864-65) by the
Indians. One son (Eli, Jr.) was born
whilethe group was in
captivity.

The cemetery is located on Survey
No. 147, Original Grantee, Joseph Mc-Cormick. Reference is mad to the
cemetery in a deed dated August 3, 1880from L. M. McDonald to E. Maier.
A later deed dated November 6, 1901,conveyed two acres of land for the
cemetery. Grantor was L. M. and HesterAnn McDonald, grantee was the Methodist Espiscopal
Church North.

NOTE: The dynamic heritage
of this area intrigued me, and I began a searchto establish the identity of those who are
at rest here. Much of the history ofSpring Creek has been written, but
I found little information about the littlecemetery. From all evidence,
the last burials were before the turn of thecentury. This compilation is
the result of data gathered hither and yon. It is my desire that this cemetery,
a spot that hold the secret of much hill country history, will not be forgotten
by futer generations